Despite the fact that the only televisions sold now are high-definition (HDTV), none of the seven televisions in my home are high-def. Yet, because of the fact I make a living writing about entertainment and technology, I decided I needed to get with the program and update. I had to do a little research to find out what I was looking at as I compared all the options I was seeing at a store and decided to share my findings. Here are some things you’ll want to look for on a television if you’re planning on getting the most out of the technology available today.

Plasma, LCD, or LED

The first thing to consider is the type of HDTV you get, whether it be plasma, LCD, or LED-backlit. This refers to the type of screen. Plasma isn’t offered as much anymore, but they can still be found at the stores. LCD is the new standard, and LED-backlit is the newest option. If you’re concerned about viewing angle, you might want to consider a plasma screen. However, running a plasma screen HDTV can cost three times as much as running an LCD. One of the cons of an LCD can be how dark black colors can appear, but that’s where an LED-backlit display can come in. It fixes that issue, yet doesn’t cost as much to run as a plasma screen.

780p, 1080i, and 1080p and 60Hz, 120Hz, and 240Hz

This first set of numbers refers to the number of pixels in the display. Most likely you wouldn’t ever notice the difference in any of these except in larger screens. In that case, if the incoming source has more pixels than your display, you could lose some sharpness, although it wouldn’t be enough to be disappointed. If the incoming sources has fewer pixels, you won’t gain anything extra in the process. This last set of numbers refers to the refresh rate. For the most part, again, you won’t notice the difference. However, for a smoother motion, such as with action movies, sports, and 3D, you’ll want a higher number. Yet for most everything, 120Hz will suffice.

HDMI and RCA Connections

The next thing to consider is the type and amount of connections on the HDTV set. RCA connections are those old-style sets of three plugs that have a yellow, white, and red. HDMI are the newer type of plug with pin connections in it. You need to make sure your HDTV has the appropriate amount of outlets, whether HDMI or RCA, to connect to your devices, such as your Blu-Ray/DVD player, a set-top box for your cable or satellite, a computer, gaming system, or media-streaming device.

Ethernet or WiFi

The next consideration is whether you will carry the Internet to your HDTV through WiFi or Ethernet. Most likely you’ll be using whichever way you carry the Internet to your computer. If via WiFi, there should be instructions with the HDTV telling you how to get the set to accept your WiFi, just as you do with a computer. If via Ethernet, you will need to hard-wire your TV to your computer.

Flash Drives and SD Cards

Some high-def TVs have additional outlets to plug in flash drives and/or SD cards. This enables you to view other media such as videos or pictures directly on your television. You can cut out the middleman of having to view these through your computer and just get them straight from the sources. The flash drive would obviously plug into a USB, and an SD card would plug into an appropriate SD card slot.

Networking Included

Most people will want to use their Internet-enabled HDTV to view movies through their Netflix account, and may also want to view content from services such as YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter. Some sets come equipped with apps built in for this. After you’re connected to your Internet, there is no other networking necessary. However, those extra options can be costly. You can achieve the same thing through a media-streaming device that would connect through an RCA cable or HDMI, such as a Roku or Apple TV. Both of these devices are under a hundred dollars; however, it will be taking up another valuable connection port.

Image Credit:
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

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Fortunately, some KDE users have taken the initiative to create monochrome icons for those programs that did not already have them and even some alternative tray icon sets for users who want a different look from the standard Air desktop theme set. This brief tutorial will show you how to quickly and easily install tray icons for your KDE Plasma desktop theme.

Icon Choices

Some Plasma themes come with their own tray icon sets. For others or for your own custom theme, you will need to install one. There are a few system tray icon sets available on KDE-Look.org, including the following:

• Krayscale – Gray scale icons with some color effects
• Monochrome Tray Icons – These fit KDE’s default desktop theme, adding icons for extra apps
• Oxygen Plasma System Tray Icons – For those who dislike the monochrome look, this returns color to your system tray

Installing System Tray Icons

Normal KDE user-installed icons are stored in /home/[username]/.kde/share/icons, but system tray icons are part of the desktop theme and are stored in the theme’s folder. These icons are SVG and are designed to scale nicely with your panel size.

Tray icons are kept in the following folder structure:

/home/[username]/.kde/share/apps/desktoptheme/[theme-name]/icons

For global themes that will be accessed by all users, use the following directory (dependent on your operating system or distribution):

/usr/share/kde4/apps/desktoptheme/[theme-name]/icons

To install, simply extract and copy the icons to the theme folder. If you are using the default KDE theme, you would copy them to:

/home/[username]/.kde/share/apps/desktoptheme/default/icons

Using the Icons

A restart of KDE should make your icons appear, but if it does not, you may need to clear your icon cache or plasma cache. To do so, go to the following folder:

/home/[username]/.kde/cache-[ComputerName]

Then, remove the file “icon-cache.kcache” and possibly also “plasma_theme_[theme-name].kcache”. This should reset the theme and show your new icons.

Earlier versions of KDE-PIM applications did not support the SVG tray icons. Therefore, most of the monochrome icon sets do not include kmail, akregator, and others. With KDE-PIM 4.6 and up, these icons will now work. The Krayscale icon theme includes them, but the icons will not show message counts for Kmail or Akregator, which may be enough incentive for some to stick with the default color icons.

If you decide to make your own icons or simply change the color of an existing one, you can use Inkscape to edit the SVG images and then copy your creations to the desktop theme folder. If you do decide to create your own, make sure you share them on KDE-Look.org so that everyone can enjoy your artwork.

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That is only one part. The next issue is the installing of new plasmoids. I downloaded some plasmoids from kde-apps.org and I have completely no ideas how to install it (I am still a newbie in KDE). I double click on it. It doesn’t work. I drag it to the widget section. It doesn’t work either. Once again, I have to google for help.

If you are, just like me, having difficulty in installing your plasmoids, here is how you can do it:

1. Download the plasmoid to your home folder. It should have a .plasmoid extension.

2. Click the Panel Tool Box (on the right bottom corner) and select Add Widgets.

3. Click “Get New Widget -> Install widget from local file“.

4. Under the type of widget to install, select “Plasmoid: Native Plasma Widget” and click Next.

5. Lastly, navigate to the place where you store your plasmoids and select it. Click Finish.

That’s it.

Install via command line

In some cases, installing plasmoid via the above method doesn’t work. The best way is to install via the command line.

plasmapkg -u widget-file-name.plasmoid

If that still doesn’t work, try the following method:

1. Extract the plasmoids to a new folder (right click the plasmoids and select “extract to”) in your home directory. You should see a “contents” folder and a meta.desktop file.

2. Open Konsole.

3. type in the following command:

plasmapkg -i plasmoid-folder-name

where the plasmoid-folder-name is the name of the folder that you extracted the plasmoid to.

If the installation is successful, you should find the plasmoid in your widget library. You can then drag it to the desktop to use it.

It is easy, only if you know the way to do it.

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1. Plasma Themes

The plasma theme engine is quite straightforward. It controls the look and feel of the KDE panel, the widgets/applets, the Krunner command interface, and any pop-ups from the panel or widgets. To change the theme:

1. Open System Settings (systemsettings)
2. Click Workspace Appearance
3. Click “Desktop Theme”

You can then select the theme you want. To download other themes from KDE-Look.org, just click “Get New Themes…”

Best of all, with Plasma, you can mix and match any themes you want, add your own components, or create your own new themes. To do so, click the “Details” tab. Each theme item will have an associated source. In the drop-down menu, select the theme source or select “File” to choose one you have created. Finally, tick the “More” box to save your new theme or even export it to share with others.

2. KWin Themes and Desktop Effects

With your new sexy looking desktop widgets and panel, you now need to match your window decorations. KDE’s window manager, KWin, has a number of themes you can choose. While still in “Workspace Appearance”, click the “Window Decorations” button on the left side. From there you can choose the decoration you want, customize the buttons, configure shadows (for some decorations), or click “Get New Decorations…” to find user-created gems.

KWin also has a plethora of desktop effects you can use, depending on your video card. In System Settings, click “Desktop Effects” and choose the effects you desire.

TIP: If you ever need to suspend desktop effects, simply press Alt+Shift+F12.

3. Wallpapers, Slideshows, and Viruses

A wallpaper can make or break a desktop. With KDE, you can choose a simple color, patterns, images, an entire slideshow, or other desktop effects, such as the “virus” or “globe” options. To choose the wallpaper you want, right click on the desktop and click “Desktop Settings”. If you have your own wallpaper you want to add, click “Open…” You can also click “Get New…” to find more wallpapers.

TIP: Make sure you choose the right positioning for your wallpaper. If it already has the right aspect ratio but not the right size, choose “Scaled”. If it has neither, choose “Scaled and Cropped.”

4. Icon Sets

Manually changing an entire icon set can be tricky in KDE, but it is easy to download one from KDE-Look.org and install it. Just follow these steps:

1. Download the icon set from KDE-Look.org
2. Open System Settings
3. Click “Application Appearance”
4. Click “Icons”
5. Click “Install Theme File…”

You can also download a set from within the dialog by clicking on “Get New Themes…”

5. Widgets

Plasma has built-in support for desktop and panel widgets. In addition to native Plasma widgets (plasmoids), it also supports Google Gadgets and many other widget types. To place new widgets, right click on the desktop or panel and click “Add Widgets…”

6. The Art of the Panel

You have full control over the KDE panel. You can resize it, move it, hide it, and more. To modify it, make sure your widgets are unlocked and click the little cashew at the end of the panel. This will open a configuration pop-up.

TIP: Want windows to cover your panel but do not want to hide it all the time? Click “More Settings” and choose “Windows can cover”. A maximized window will hide the panel, but moving your mouse to the edge of the screen will raise it, just like a hidden panel.

7. Folder View and Shelf

Clutter is something that has always plagued Windows, Mac, and Linux desktops. The desktop is probably better described as a workspace, and people want drag images, files, and other items onto it. Over time, however, it gets very messy. With Folder View, you can still have items on your desktop, but you can keep them organized in boxes and categories. With Shelf, you can have launchable icons for anything, organized in nice rows on your workspace.

Experiment and Create

KDE can be anything you want it to be. That freedom is what makes free and open source software so great. Try out new looks. Impress your friends, and share your creations.

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When activities were introduced into KDE 4, they did not make much sense in isolation. In addition to having virtual desktops, there were activities, which the user could create and configure to have different wallpapers and different widgets. Much of the virtual desktop functionality of KDE 3 was absent and not directly connected to Plasma activities.

With the release of KDE 4.5, Plasma has reached a much higher level of maturity, and activities can now be integrated with virtual desktops, dual monitor screens, and with the Dashboard feature.

Desktops

By default, all virtual desktops operate on the same activity and look identical. If you add a widget on desktop 1, it will be the same on 2, 3, and 4. Similarly, icons, panels, and anything else you add will all be the same. With activities, however, you can separate each desktop into truly independent workspaces.

To have a unique activity for each desktop:

1. Open System Settings
2. Under the “Workspace Appearance and Behavior” section, click “Window Behavior”
3. Click the “Virtual Desktops” icon.
4. In the Layout section, check “Different widgets for each desktop”
5. Click “Apply”.

After you have enabled this feature, you can add unique icons, widgets, and wallpapers to each individual desktop.

Screens

KDE automatically recognizes dual monitor configurations and creates separate activities for each screen. Therefore, each screen has its own panels, widgets, icons, and wallpapers. Turn on the “different widgets for each desktop” feature, and each screen will additionally have separate activities for each desktop. For example, if you have a total of four desktops per screen, you would end up with eight activities, each of which can have its own set of widgets and wallpapers.

To configure your screens in KDE:

1. Open System Settings
2. Under “Hardware” click “Display and Monitor”
3. Click the “Multiple Monitors” icon
4. Check “Enable multiple monitor virtual desktop support”
5. Click “Apply”.

Dashboard

Those familiar will Mac OS X have most likely used the Dashboard feature. When the user presses a hot key, a dimmed, translucent layer appears over the screen, displaying widgets the user has selected. Since version 4, KDE has offered a similar feature.

The default hot key for KDE’s Dashboard is Ctrl+F8, but the Dashboard feature behaves like a “show desktop” button, only bringing to the foreground the widgets currently on the desktop. In order to have a separate activity for the Dashboard with unique widgets, you must do the following:

1. Open System Settings
2. Under the “Workspace Appearance and Behavior” section, click “Workspace”
3. Next to “Dashboard” select “Show an Independent Widget Set” from the dropdown menu
4. Click Apply.

FolderView

The default setting for the KDE 4 desktop is called “Desktop”, and it only displays widgets. Those widgets can be icons, Folder View, weather, taskbar, and many other types, but, in this mode, the desktop will never behave like the former KDE 3 desktop or similar desktops in Gnome, Windows, and other interfaces.

Some prefer this new feature and love KDE 4 because of it, while others have avoided KDE 4 because they prefer a traditional desktop. Fortunately, KDE has options for both. To change a desktop to a traditional interface:

1. Right click on the desktop
2. Click “Unlock Widgets” (If you see, “Lock Widgets”, leave it as-is)
3. Right click again and click “Desktop Settings”
4. Click “Activity”
5. In the dropdown menu for “Type” change it to Folder View.

Once selected, the entire desktop will become a Folder View, allowing you to specify which folder it will display. You can also repeat this for any of your virtual desktops, configuring each one to display a different desktop folder.

Activities

There are many possible other uses for activities, such as those used in the KDE Plasma Netbook interface. You can also create activities for any purpose you want and select them with Alt+D+A (or right click on the desktop and select Activities). Each activity can have a unique name and unique function, and you could even completely change over your desktop for working during the day and entertainment at night. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination. For more information about Plasma activities, visit KDE’s Userbase.

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KDE’s power management is controlled by an application called PowerDevil. There are three ways to access and manage PowerDevil:

1.System Settings module
2.Plasma Battery Monitor widget
3.Krunner plugin

System Settings

The PowerDevil System Settings module is found under the “Advanced” tab in the “Advanced User Settings” section. Click on “Power Management” to start it.

There are three side tabs:

1. General Settings – Here you can configure global settings that will apply to all profiles, such as “lock screen on resume”. It also allows you to assign profiles to certain situations. For example, when your laptop or netbook is unplugged, the “Powersave” profile is assigned by default.

The last button sets notifications. For example, when the laptop is unplugged, a system tray notification will pop up.

The “Advanced Battery Settings” tab allows users to set custom battery power levels.

2. Edit Profiles – Each profile has a plethora of settings, allowing users full control over the system’s power management. Here are some key features:

Disable desktop effects, if active – This is commonly used for lower-power situations. KWin desktop effects will use more CPU and GPU power. By enabling this setting, KDE will temporarily disable effects until the power profile changes.

Action settings – Pressing the power button, closing the laptop lid, or pressing the suspend key all have actions assigned to them, and PowerDevil gives you the ability to change those actions or disable them completely.

Screen – Dimming or turning off the screen can save power and extend the life of the screen. In this tab, you can set the specific times for each state, as well as the default brightness level for the given profile.

CPU – With multi-core systems, you can disable one or more of the CPUs when a profile is activated. If you have CPU scaling enabled, you can also set the scaling policy to run the CPU at a slower speed when on battery power.

3. Capabilities – The capabilities tab is essentially an information center that provides you with valuable information about your mobile computer. It will tell you what power features and actions are enabled and available.

Plasma Widget

The batter monitor widget displays the percentage of battery power remaining and tells the user if the cord is plugged in or not. Left click on the battery icon to bring up a quick access panel. From there, you can change the brightness, power profile, enable suspend or hibernate, and access the previously-mentioned system settings module. Right clicking brings up configuration options for the module.

Krunner

Krunner is an advanced command and application launcher. With it, you can quickly access settings, enable power actions, or change the system state. You can access it by pressing Alt+F2 or right clicking on the desktop and clicking “Run Command”.

Screen Brightness: To change the brightness of the screen, type “Screen Brightness ##”, replacing ## with a percentage number. For example: Screen Brightness 65. If you type “screen brightness” with no number, it will give you general options like “dim screen by half” and “turn off screen”.

Power Profile: Simply type in “power profile”, and Krunner will give you a list of profile options.

Power Governor: If enabled, this allows you to set the CPU governor profile.

Suspend: Type “suspend” and then select “Suspend to Disk” or “Suspend to RAM”

Troubleshooting

Q. My suspend and/or brightness keys do not work
A. Make sure you have KHotkeys enabled in System Settings/Advanced/Service Manager. If it still does not work, you may need to consult your distribution’s documentation on hotkeys for your particular laptop.

Q. I have an Nvidia card, and the GPU does not run at full speed. Where do I configure that?
A. If you are using Nvidia’s proprietary drivers, configure it with nvidia-settings.

Q. Suspend does not work, works only once, or freezes/crashes the laptop.
A. Linux suspend support will vary depending on the device. Check your distribution’s help documentation or forums.

KDE PowerDevil makes power management easy and completely integrated with the KDE graphical interface. Because of this, users can create their own Krunner plugins or Plasma widgets to interact with it. As Linux becomes more popular, particularly on netbooks, PowerDevil should play an important role.

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The Device Notifier Widget is located on the KDE panel, but may be anywhere on the panel, depending on the default setup of your Linux distribution. It can sit on the panel as an icon, like the application launcher, or reside within the system tray. To add it to the system tray:

1. Right click on the tray and click “System Tray Settings”
2. Click “Plasma Widgets”
3. Check “Device Notifier” and click “OK”.

Connecting Once

For most removable media, you will only want it to connect on a per-use basis. Once a device is inserted or attached, the Device Notifier will popup over the system tray icon, showing you the device. If you do nothing, it will slip away after a few seconds. At any time, you can click on the icon to see the devices again.

For every device, it will provide three pieces of information:

1. The type/size and name of device
2. The amount of available storage space
3. The number of available actions you can perform with the device.

To the right of the device information, you will see an icon that looks like a plug or connector. Clicking it will immediately mount it but will not perform any further actions. This is useful if you want it mounted but do not necessarily want to access it at the moment.

Click anywhere else on the device to bring up the actions menu. Some example actions are: “Download photos with…”, “Open with File Manager”, “Play Audio CD with Amarok”, and “Copy with K3b”.

Once you are finished using your removable device, you need to unmount it before removing it. First make sure you are not accessing it with any applications. Although KDE applications will communicate with each other and automatically detect an unmount, others may keep the device busy and prevent you from unmounting it. To proceed, click the up-arrow icon that looks like an eject button.

Automatic Connections

If you find yourself connecting the same devices frequently, you may want to consider making them mount automatically. For example, I have an external 250GB hard drive that is always at my desk. When I login to KDE, I want it mounted already.

To access the Device Notifier settings, right click on the icon and click “Device Notifier Settings”

“General” options tell the widget to display removable, non-removable, or all devices. “Device Actions” is where you can add, edit, or delete actions associated with media and device types.

In order to configure automatic mounting, click on “Removable Devices”. At the top are general options that will apply to all devices. In order to automatically mount any devices, check the first box to enable auto-mounting. The sub-settings underneath it are optional but may be useful, depending on your situation.

In the box below those settings, you will see “Device Overrides“. This section allows you to setup automatic mounting for specific devices, such as my external hard drive. In the first tree, it will show currently attached devices, including internal drives and their partitions. Find your device, and check “Automount on login”, “Automount on attach”, or both options.

In the second tree, you will see “Disconnected Devices”. Device Notifier will remember all of the devices you have ever connected. Using this, you can configure devices you might not have at the moment, but it also can be a security risk if you do not want a device to be listed. To remove one, select it and then click the “Forget Device” button at the bottom. When you are finished configuring, click “OK”.

Other Places to manage devices

KDE applications are smart and will be aware of devices as they appear. They also allow various degrees of device management, depending on the application. These applications include:

• Dolphin (mount/unmount; show/hide from “Places”)
• Kickoff and Lancelot menus (mount/unmount)
• Other apps, such as Amarok and Digikam (mount/unmount; retrieve data)

KDE’s device management system is designed to provide ease of use while still offering flexibility and a variety of options. With it, you should rarely, if ever, need to drop to the command line to manage a removable device.

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In no particular order, here are a few that I have recently encountered and are worth mentioning.

Countdown Widget

With my graduation less than a month away, this widget is the perfect reminder of how many projects I have to finish before I complete my courses. But the widget itself can be used for any sort of countdown: your birthday, payday, anniversary, or anything else you want to remember.

It is a simple widget, and you can install it directly within KDE’s Add Widgets dialog.

1. Right click on the desktop
2. Click “Add Widgets”
3. Click “Get New Widgets”
4. Click “Download New Plasma Widgets”
5. Find “Countdown” and click “Install”
6. Drag the countdown icon to your desktop.

Wallpaper Clock

Another extraordinary KDE feature is the ability to use a wide variety of desktop wallpaper plugins. Rather than having a plain image as your wallpaper, you can have a slideshow, the weather, and even an interactive map of the world.

Wallpaper Clock is an add-on that connects to vladstudio.com and allows you to install their wallpaper clocks, which show the time and date in creative ways. The wallpapers are updated in real time (pun intended), changing every minute without any flickering or noticeable repainting.

You can install wallpaper clock using the normal widget installation procedure, but the actual widget will appear in your Plasma Workspace settings.

1. Right click the desktop and click “Desktop Activity Settings”.
2. Click the dropdown menu next to the label “Type” and find “Wallpaper Clock”.
3. To install new wallpaper clocks, click “Get New Wallpapers”
4. After you have downloaded the ones you want, click “Close”
5. Select the wallpaper you desire and click “OK”.

Pulse (KWin effect)

Pulse is a visual effect for KWin (KDE’s window manager). When a window appears, it zooms in and pulses with a fading ghost image of itself. When I first tried it, I found it a little overwhelming. Every window that appeared made me a little woozy, but after I turned the settings down a little, I found the effect rather refreshing. Every time a window appears, I notice it, and the effect adds a nice bit of life to the desktop. Not everyone will be able to tolerate the flashing, but for those who want to add a little spice to their desktop, this is a good effect to accomplish that goal.

Unfortunately, there are no easy ways to install KWin effects. You will have to compile this one from source, but that only takes a couple of minutes. If you are comfortable with the Linux command line and wish to proceed, be sure to follow the standard KDE building instructions.

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
make install

There are many other useful KDE add-ons available for download, and you can install many of them from within the KDE dialogs. For all others, visit KDE-Look.org and KDE-Apps.org.

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A highly anticipated release, KDE 4.4 has taken necessary steps to solidify the underlying Plasma technology of KDE 4 and add polish to the already shiny surface. This week, MakeTechEasier will take you on a preview of the upcoming KDE 4.4 release, scheduled for February 9. I recently installed Release Candidate 1 on my desktop computer and took it for a spin. I was not disappointed.

The following is a preview, not a review. KDE 4.4 is still under development and should not be used on production systems, nor should stability be expected. Having said that, I am typing this article within KDE 4.4 and loving all of it, especially the tabbed windows.

Default Interface

The default KDE interface continues to be the Oxygen Air Plasma theme. It has changed slightly, and I am not sure if what I viewed was the final incarnation or just a stepping stone. The colors and overall look are the same, but the circle art is not as prominent. Like most KDE visual features, however, the theme is fully customizable, and I am currently using a darker theme for my desktop.

The KWin (window manager) buttons are slightly different, smaller and rounder, but the most impressive improvement with the default Oxygen window manager theme is the incorporation of many of the features that were found in the Nitrogen spin-off. One of the features I have been waiting for is the ability to once again control drop-shadow color and size. I prefer slightly more prominent shadows of a darker color than the default. The Oxygen theme also includes “Window-Specific Overrides” right in its configuration.

The “Style” settings in KDE System Settings has a new tab for “Workspace” which has replaced the theme settings previously found in the “Desktop” section. This is where you can select and download Plasma themes.

KDE includes many animated graphical effects, many of which make use of the X.org composite feature. The “Fine Tuning” section in “Style” allows you set the level of graphical effects right for your system.

Plasma

Plasma is definitely slicker, and operates very smoothly. The “Add Widgets” dialog has been complete redone. Clicking “Add Widgets” now brings down a horizontal menu that encourages you to search before you decide to scroll. It is all very easy, and the search works as you type without any delay.

When you drag a widget to the desktop, it flashes a nice effect and looks very natural and smooth. Most of the widget resize and configuration tools are the same. The Dashboard widget layer is now fully configurable through the graphical interface and works much better than previous versions, although it still gets a bit confused on dual screens.

One FolderView improvement is that more Dolphin-like features are now supported, include the handy selection button that appears when you hover your mouse pointer over a folder.

The System Tray now supports widget integration so that certain system widgets can be placed within it. You can also configure jobs and notifications for any application running in the system tray.

The device notifier has added internal dialogs providing you with options on how to proceed when a device is inserted. Among the improvements is the ability to mount a drive without opening it in Dolphin.

Krunner and Dolphin

Krunner now drops down from the top of the screen, almost like a Quake console. This was a surprise to me, but it works very well and is an improvement over the previous versions, which popped up in the middle of the screen. When you search for commands or documents with Krunner, it will display appropriate icons next to the search results that you can use to configure the execution. With commands, it opens an internal dialog that allows you to run as another user. Selecting a document allows you to choose what application to use to open it.

Dolphin has added some new linking capabilities to its options menu, integrated searching, and a “timeline view” that allows you to view files by modification date (enter timeline:/ in the location bar).

Window Tabbing

I saved the best for last. I have long believed that applications like OpenOffice.org should have support for tabbed word processing. It just makes sense. Why should tabs be limited to web browsers or file managers? With KDE, you no longer have to wait on individual application developers. The KWin window manager itself supports tabbing.

Simply right click on a window’s title bar and select “Move to window group”. Then, select the window you want to group with it. Almost like magic, the two windows will become one, and there will be two or more tabs in the title bar. But this feature is not only limited within applications. You can group any application with any other. You could group a Firefox window with a Konqueror one and compare website rendering, which is useful for web design. KDE’s window specific features also now give you the ability to set how you want new windows of an application to group. For example, my OpenOffice.org documents now automatically open in new tabs rather than new windows.

Overall, KDE 4.4 looks very stable and promising. You can read a complete list of scheduled release goals at the KDE TechBase website. To install KDE 4.4, visit KDE.org.

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There are already several visual components of the K desktop environment that are already integrated. Among them are: desktop wallpaper, Plasma themes, KDM themes, KSplash, color schemes, icon themes, emoticons, and widgets (plasmoid scripts). What this means is that a user can open the dialog to change one of these elements, download new themes, and apply them without ever having to leave the window.

Installing themes

For example, to install a new wallpaper for your desktop, follow these simple steps:

1. Right click on the desktop.
2. Click “Desktop Settings”. (The shortcut for these steps is Alt+S+D).
3. At the bottom of the settings window, click “Get New Wallpapers”

By the default, the source will be KDE-Look.org. In the future, there may be other sources.

4. Find the wallpaper you want and click the “Install” button to the right of it. You may install as many as you want while the window is open.
5. Click “close”
6. Select the new wallpaper from the “Picture” dropdown menu.
7. Click “OK”

Changing a plasma theme is a very similar process.

1. Right click on the desktop.
2. Click “Desktop Settings”
3. Under “Desktop Theme” select “New Theme…”
4. Install the theme you want, and select it from the dropdown menu

If you ever decide that you do not like a particular element within the Plasma theme, you can replace that element with one from another. To do this:

1. In “System Settings” click the “Advanced” tab.
2. Click “Desktop Theme Details”

Here you can change single elements of the Plasma theme and then save it under a new name. You can also download themes directly from here.

3. To change the Kickoff (menu) theme, for example, click the dropdown menu and select a different theme.
4. Click “Apply”.

With this feature, you can also import your own files to create your own new theme. To save your own custom theme, check the “More” box at the bottom and add the name, author, version, and description.

To change KDM (display/login manager) themes, KSplash (the open splash screen in KDE), color schemes, icon themes, or emoticons:

1. Select “System Settings” from the K-menu.
2. Under “Look and Feel” click “Appearance”
3. Select the appearance feature you want to change.

As of KDE 4.3.4, you must still download styles, window decorations, and fonts manually, but since all of these are present on KDE-Look.org, it stands to reason that integration may follow in future releases.

Installing widgets

There are currently two types of plasmoid widgets: binaries and scripts. For the binaries, you must either compile them from source or download pre-built packages from a website or distribution repository. For plasmoid scripts, you can install them directly from KDE-Look.org. To install one:

1. Right click on the desktop or click the Plasma Toolbox (Cashew)
2. If your widgets are locked, click “Unlock Widgets”
3. Click “Add Widgets”
4. At the bottom of the new window, click “Install New Widgets”
5. In the menu, click “Download New Plasma Widgets”

KDE-Look.org will only show you the scripts and not the binaries.

6. Find the widget you want to install and click the “Install” button.

As you can see, all of this is very easy, well-integrated, and seamless. On occasion, you might find a particular theme that will not download. This is usually due to the creator using a download service that requires user input (like a captcha) or has a download timer for non-paying users. Those of you who wish to offer your script for download should find a free alternative.

Applications such as Kopete also have KDE-Look.org integration, and you can expect to see this in many other applications in the future, particularly Amarok, which already has themes and widgets. The system that KDE has established will make it easy for new software developers to create applications with this themability built-in, allowing its users to create and distribute customizations all from KDE-Look.org.

Furthermore, other OpenDesktop.org features can be integrated into KDE, GNOME, XFCE, and others. This includes many of the social media features that the website has adopted. The future for Unix-based desktop environments appears to be one of well-integrated and virtually connected desktops, making mobility easier and the visual experience more pleasing to the eyes.

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With the growing popularity of netbooks, it is no surprise that many Linux distributions and software developers have created customized versions of their software to run on them. Some of the popular choices include Ubuntu’s Netbook Remix and Intel’s Moblin.  Not to be counted out, KDE now has a version of their desktop environment designed for netbooks. While it is still under heavy development, I thought now would be a good time to get a little preview of what is to come. For the purposes of this preview, I installed Kubuntu Netbook Edition, but you can conceivably use any distribution that will support your netbook.

The Plasma Shell

Upon installation, KDE Plasma Netbook begins just like a regular KDE session. One of the good things about it is that it actually is a full KDE installation. The only essential difference is that the Plasma shell is catered for the smaller screens of netbooks.

The panel sits at the top of the screen with three primary sections: (1)Window Picker (2)Activity Bar and (3)System Tray. The window picker relies on Kwin’s “present windows” effect, zooming out to show any running applications. The activity bar switches between plasma activities. By default there are two: applications and newspaper. The system tray functions as it normally does in KDE.

Window Picker

I call it the “window picker” only because I do not know the official name for it. It functions perfectly well, although users who are used to a taskbar might take some time to adjust. You cannot see which windows you have open without activating it, but it will tell you how many are currently running.

This falls in line with the full-screen philosophy most netbook environments have adopted. If users tend to maximize windows on the small screen, there is no point in having multiple windows appear at once. When you select one window, the others disappear beneath the plasma shell.

Applications

Running applications is very easy with KDE Plasma Netbook. All of the categories are listed as icons right in the middle of the screen. To start a program, simply drill down through the categories as you would in a menu. Menus can be harder to navigate on laptops in general and sometimes just downright annoying on a tiny netbook.

Other methods of application launching do still exist. Click the binoculars icon in the top right, and a search box will open that seems to rely on the same back-end as Krunner. Typing in a partial application name or category will bring up a list the user can choose from. Krunner is also still available by pressing Alt-F2.

Newspaper

Rather than having the user drop widgets onto the desktop, KDE Plasma Netbook creates an entirely separate screen (or activity) for your widgets. They essentially exist within a desktop window that even has a scroll bar, so you could theoretically have pages of widgets. You can switch between the applications screen and the newspaper screen with the activity bar at the top. KDE shortcut keys also work for all functions, just as they normally would.

Issues

I did not notice any immediate access to file management, other than starting Dolphin from the application launcher. This might be an oversight on my part, but either way, it is certainly not as obvious as Ubuntu Netbook Remix, which has a right panel for file management. Since there is an area for icons, however, it would be very easy to add shortcuts to Dolphin and any of your favorite folders. The other issue was speed.  It seemed somewhat slow on my Eee PC 900, but it should perform better on Atom-based netbooks. On the positive side of Linux mobile computing issues, I had no problem connecting to my WPA-secured wireless network with the new network manager or dealing with the battery using the power management widget.

Recommendations

Overall, this desktop shell looks promising as an alternative to the standard KDE Plasma setup. Users will definitely appreciate the easy application launching and window switching. Although it is still under development, KDE Plasma Netbook appears fully functional, and I recommend anyone interested should give it a try.

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Setup

Lancelot is now part of KDE and should be available for installation in any KDE-based distribution (or distributions with the option for full KDE installation). To enable it:

1. Right click on the desktop or panel and click “Unlock Widgets”.
2. Right click on your current menu and click “Remove…”
3. Right click on the desktop and click “Add Widgets”.
4. Drag the Lancelot widget onto the panel.

You will see another widget called “Lancelot Part”, but leave that one alone for now. Like most panel widgets, you can configure it by right-clicking on the icon and clicking “Lancelot Launcher Settings”. “Show categories…” will display a button for each Lancelot category. “Show only menu launcher icon” does just what it says.

One unique feature of Lancelot is the “No-click activation”, which allows you to navigate through the menu without clicking the mouse button. It is in the settings under “Menu” and the “General” tab. To activate an item, move your mouse pointer over the little arrow that appears when you highlight it. In my case, there is apparently something about clicking that feels more manly, so I disabled the “No-click”.

Categories

There are four Lancelot categories: Applications, Computer, Contacts, and Documents. In “Applications”, you can add your favorite menu items to the favorites column simply by right-clicking on the icon and clicking “Add to Favorites”. When you navigate through each column, Lancelot stays there even if you close the menu, which is handy if you intend to open several applications within that section. It also produces a breadcrumb trail at the top so that you can track back to any spot.

“Computer” will show you the standard “Places” items that you have setup in Dolphin, “System” items, which you can edit, and a list of removable and fixed drives. “Contacts” displays new email messages (through Kmail and Kontact) and online Kopete contacts.   “Documents” shows your most recent documents in various formats. Early versions of Lancelot did not allow the user to clear the “recent documents”, but that feature has now been added.

Lancelot Part

I had a very good reason for telling you to leave the Lancelot Part alone. If you were to drag it from the “Add Widgets” dialog, you would find that it does nothing. Any section within a Lancelot category can become a widget, utilizing Lancelot Part. For example, make sure that your widgets are unlocked, and then try dragging the “Places” section from the “Computer” category onto an open area of your desktop. You will now have a handy shortcut menu for all of your bookmarked places.

You can do the same with any of the Lancelot categories. You can also add multiple sections to one Lancelot Part. Just drag a second section onto the current one you just made. It is resizeable and has some configuration settings. In addition, any folder can be made into a Lancelot Part simply by dragging it to the desktop.

Lancelot Search

Lancelot is integrated with Krunner. That means anything the user can search for in Krunner can also be found in Lancelot. That includes applications, nepomuk tags, indexed documents, contacts, bookmarks, and file folders. It will also perform numerous Krunner functions such as the calculator and unit convertor.

Lancelot works very well for those users who like a lot of functionality, and it delievers on its promises. If you are the type who prefers simplicity, however, Lancelot is not for you. The myriad of categories and menu columns can be daunting. Furthermore, I have noticed a slight delay in opening the menu on slower machines, so those of you on netbooks and low-powered desktops will probably prefer a more minimal menu. On my desktop, I enjoy Lancelot in its full glory, and it integrates nicely with KDE’s “Air” Plasma theme. I recommend you give it a try.

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When Google Gadgets were released for Linux, many people once again praised Google’s support of free and open source software, but there was just one problem. The two major desktop environments for Linux, GNOME and KDE, both already had desktop widget components that were better integrated into their overall desktops. Fortunately, the Google developers were well aware of this and built in the interoperability that would allow the GNOME and KDE developers to seamlessly integrate the two.

With the release of KDE 4.2, Google Gadgets became fully integrated into Plasma. You can add them to your desktop with a few clicks of your mouse, unless you happen to be a Kubuntu user. For reasons that are outside the scope of this article, Kubuntu developers decided to remove the Google Gadget code from Plasma.  Being the stubborn hackers that we are, however, we are going to get them back.  This will require a little compiling of software, but I will walk you through each step.

All of these steps assume that you have the latest Kubuntu version 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”. It might work with earlier versions, although I make no guarantees.

The good news is that the Google Gadgets libraries are still in the kdebase source. You just have to rebuild the kdebase-workspace package.

1. The first thing that I recommend doing is creating a working directory:

Start Konsole and type:

mkdir kde4-build
cd kde4-build

2. Install the Google Gadgets library packages:

sudo apt-get install libggadget-qt-1.0-dev
sudo apt-get install libggadget-1.0-dev

3. Install the kdebase-workspace source package and its dependencies:

sudo apt-get source kdebase-workspace
sudo apt-get build-dep kdebase-workspace

4. Next, you will need to configure the kdebase-workspace source to prepare it for building:

cd kdebase-workspace-4.2.1a
cmake .

5. You only need to compile the Google Gadgets script engine portion:

cd plasma/scriptengines/google_gadgets
make

6. Finally, just copy the Google Gadget binaries to their proper locations:

sudo cp ../../../lib/plasma_package_ggl.so /usr/lib/kde4/
sudo cp ../../../lib/plasma_scriptengine_ggl.so /usr/lib/kde4/
sudo cp plasma-packagestructure-googlegadgets.desktop /usr/share/kde4/services/
sudo cp plasma-scriptengine-googlegadgets.desktop /usr/share/kde4/services/
sudo cp plasma-applet-ggl-photos.desktop /usr/share/kde4/services/
sudo cp plasma-applet-ggl-rss.desktop /usr/share/kde4/services/

7. Restart KDE

When you log back into KDE, you should now have support for Google Gadgets.

8. Open the add widgets dialog as you normally would, click on “Install New Widgets”, and then click “Download New Google Gadgets”.

When you add Google Gadgets from the Gadget Browser, they will appear in the normal Plasma dialog, which you can then use to add to your desktop. If, for some reason, you do not see all 61 gadgets, you might need to start Google Gadgets independently once, close it, restart plasma, and then try again.

That is all it takes to get Google Gadgets up and running in Plasma on Kubuntu Jaunty.

* Portions of this article were adapted from the guide writen by Francesco Santini, released under a CreativeCommons-Attribution-3.0 license.

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One of the most innovative and simultaneously controversial features of KDE 4 is the Plasma widget, Folderview. Simply put, it allows a user to display the contents of a file system folder within a widget on the desktop.

Beyond just displaying files on your computer, Folderview can be used to launch applications, display remote file systems, filter large folders for particular types of files, or serve as a traditional desktop.

Application Launcher

Folderview is a great way to display icons of the applications you use most on the desktop, in an organized fashion. Instead of having them mixed in with documents, shortcuts, and various other icons like on traditional desktops, they can be in their own box. I prefer to have mine in a long rectangle stretched across the length of my panel. Here is how to do it:

1. Create a new Folderview widget by right clicking on the desktop and unlocking your widgets (if necessary). Then, click “Add widgets”. Another easy way to create a Folderview is to simply drag an existing folder to the desktop.

2. Find the Folderview widget and drag it onto the desktop wherever you want it to be. You can also resize it however you like. Even if you want it very small, a scroll bar will appear if there is more than one icon.

3. It will have most likely displayed your desktop files by default. So, you will need to change the location. Right click on the Folderview titlebar and click “Folderview settings”.

4. From the settings, you can “specify a folder”. Instead of choosing a folder you already have, create a new one called “Apps” or “Applications”. Click “OK”.

5. Now, to get application icons into your Folderview, all you have to do is drag icons from your K-menu. It will ask you to copy or link. Click “copy”. You can also open Dolphin and go to “programs:/”. This will list all of the programs in your menu. You can then drag them to Folderview.

The names of the application icons will have the “.desktop” extension. If you find this unsightly, as I did, simply rename the files, deleting the “.desktop”. You are then left with a nice, neat, desktop application launcher.

Remote File Systems

Nearly all KDE applications can utilize its kio-slave technology, and Plasma is no exception. With it, you can seamlessly connect to other computers with FTP, SSH, and Samba. To connect to an FTP server, you simply type:

ftp://username@server.com

For a secure connection, use sftp instead of ftp. For Samba, use smb.

To use this feature in Folderview in order to have an open connection to a remote computer visible on your desktop, just edit the Folderview settings and specify the URL.

Filtering Folders

Suppose you have a folder filled with documents, but you only want OpenDocument Text (.odt) files to be visible. It is easy with Folderview:

1. Open the Folderview setings

2. Click “Filter”

3. Click “Show Files Matching” from the drop-down menu.

4. Click on the file types of your choice.

You can also use this to exclude certain file types by selecting “Hide Files Matching” from the drop-down menu.

Traditional Desktop

If you prefer to have a traditional desktop as found in KDE 3, Gnome, Windows, and Mac OS X, Folderview can help with that too.

1. Right click on the desktop.

2. Click “Appearance Settings”.

3. The first drop-down menu says “Type” next to it. Click it and change it from “Desktop” to “Folder View”.

After you click OK, the Folderview will have expanded over the entire desktop and will behave like it did in KDE 3.

The uses and features of Folderview are only limited by the uses and features of KDE. As KDE 4 continues to mature, Folderview will continue to grow into a useful and powerful desktop tool.

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